For anyone watching the developing story about the shooting in Orlando, it is clear that Omar the shooter is driven by both hate and religious extremism. He targeted a club that is patronized by the gay community. And according to authorities, he placed a 911 call to the police declaring his allegiance to the leader of ISIS in the course of the carnage. There you have it.

In an initial statement released by the father of the shooter on the day of the shooting, the father said his son was not driven by religion. But by a loathe for gay guys which took a significant turn the day father, son, and Omar’s son went to Miami and a gay couple were kissing not too far away from where they were. The father said Omar was outraged by the couple kissing in front of his male child.

Of course as a father I can understand his anger at the gay couple. I assume his reasoning might be that his young boy seeing the gay couple make out in public may perceive it a norm, especially since him the father, being a religious man, does not want the son whose faculties are yet to be fully developed, to imbibe such values. But whatever his grievances were, that does not warrant mass murder. It does not warrant any murder at all. His atrocious behavior is unacceptable. Especially to every man of conscience. He lived in a secular society that accepted and tolerated his ways of live and his own religious believes and practices. Omar by his actions is simply am embodiment of hatred and intolerance.

Now, Omar is a man filled with hate. He’s a man that was poised to let out his hatred in the most barbaric way. But does the U.S. Congress have to make it soooo freaking easy for him to carry out his hateful acts to such a magnitude?

AR-15 assault weapon is a weapon of war and have no place in a civilian’s life. Why is the U.S. Congress so cool with individuals having possession of this kind of weapon? A mass murder weapon that allows the shooter to kill many with ease and in a short period of time?

In a country of smarts like Bill Gates, Zuckerbergs, and Pages, why can’t our politicians muster the courage to work for the American people and say fuck you to the NRA and their crazy obsession of arming every Tom, Dick and Harry with guns?

Of course what we have in Washington DC these days from the Oval Office to the most junior member of Congress are bunch of cowards and self-aggrandizing career politician that goes to DC to work for themselves and the moneybags that financed their campaigns. Gone are the days America is prioritized. So for fear of losing their seats from NRA attack ads, for fear of being labeled anti-2nd Amendment, and for fear of being accused of colluding with Obama to take away their guns, these politicians sit on their butt and do nothing while hateful guys run amok, possessing every manner of military grade weapons they could lay their hands upon, and wreak havoc on poor people.

It happened in Aurora, it happened in Newtown, it happened at Sandy Hook, it happened in Charleston, it happened in San Bernardino, and it has happened in Orlando. It has taken the lives of elementary school kids, it has taken the lives of movie goers, it has taken the lives of seniors, and it has taken the lives of regular folks. Native Americans, Blacks, Whites, Hispanics, and Asians. Kids, the young, and seniors have all paid with their lives for the failure of Congress to act and come up with a commonsense gun regulation that will prevent individuals, whether sane or insane, from possessing any kind of gun that they are not supposed to possess.

Outrage by politicians, celebrities, and regular folks have been on the air regarding this recent gun violence. Blames have been traded, names have been called, and racists and xenophobes are having their field day. But like Sandy Hook, like Charleston, and like Newtown, these will all fizzle out and Washington will continue with business as usual. So the real question is: at what point will republicans rise up to the occasion and pass a comprehensive and common sense gun legislation that will limit access that individuals have to weapons of war?

The Second Amendment is a sacred tool that granted and cemented the individuality of the individual in this society and grants us the right to defend ourselves against external aggression and the right also to rise against the government should it become oppressive like the English autocrats of old. But it doesn’t grant us the right to irresponsible choices of allowing mentally sick and hateful people to have access to weapons of war with which they happily utilize to give flesh to their demons.

As I rightly predicted, most discussions and debates about this incident have revolved around religion, ISIS, and xenophobia. Donald Trump is reported as scoring cheap political points from this incident. Camp Clinton on the other hand is scrambling to find audience for her sound gun policy prescriptions since people think and talk through their emotions rather than their heads in aftermath of events like these. But the President calling what Omar did Islamic terrorism or sending troops to go and die in the deserts of the Middle East to defeat ISIS does not have any bearing on this case. Neither action could have prevented this guy. The same way no one could have prevented Dylann Roof, the young man that went to Mother Emmanuel Church in Charleston South Carolina to massacre people. He too was letting out his hatred for Black people just as Omar was letting out his hatred for gays. And in the same way Omar pledged allegiance to ISIS, Dylann Roof also pledged allegiance to the KKK, another terrorist organization. But what could have mitigated the extent of their damage would be the kind of weapon they went to shop with. Should they have gone to shop with a weapon that has limited rounds to shoot before they can reload, it of course will limit the extent of their damage on people’s lives.

ISIS can seek to motivate whoever is ready to lend their ears to their evil crap. But if our leaders in Washington will do their job and limit access to these weapons of mass murder to these hateful bunch, they can be stopped on their track next time they try to do something like this. Because there will always be a next time. People won’t stop hating.

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One thought on “THE PARADOX OF AMERICA. THE SMARTEST NATION ON EARTH, YET THE DUMBEST”

I didn’t even bother reading this after seeing the phrase “AR-15 assault weapon.” The ‘AR’ in ‘AR-15’ stands for Armalite Rifle, almost as if the company who pioneered the designed wanted to stamp their name on their own product. Eventually their design which was at first REJECTED by the army was refined to the point of acceptance by said armed forces, after addition of a burst fire mode, triangular handguard, three-pronged flash suppressor, and still lacked the forward assist which is so commonly found on ‘weapons of war.’

Additionally, Armalite “was actually founded with the goal of developing CIVILIAN market guns using modern materials and manufacturing technologies.”